Tales of Meiji
by TardisOwner
Summary: Himura Kenshin's life was anything but ordinary.  However, it was the ordinary moments that mean the most.  Collection of one-shots.  Mostly in Kenshin's pov.  All cannon pairings apply


*A/N – Hi guys! I'm back! Well, football season is over for my high school and so is marching season for band. My first time in the artist alley for an anime con was a bittersweet success and I'm looking forward to the one in the summer. But, aside from all that, it's time to get back into my writing. So, without further ado, I bring you this: a collection of Ken/Kao one-shots. I may go to some group ones later on, but for now it's just focusing on the main characters. Enjoy! **I don't own Kenshin, but I do own my fan art so HA!**__ ~Tardis*

Japanese English Dictionary

Tadaima = I'm home Okaeri nasai = welcome back

_Engawa = porch_

_Gi = samurai shirt-like-thing_

_Maa, maa = words of condolence. Like "it's okay" or something._

Ah = yeah

_Tabi = socks_

1. 99% Chance of Rain

I had hoped it would quit raining since this morning, but it never did. Rain continued to pound against the side of the dojo until noon. It drizzled until dusk. I found myself peering out at the wet and dreary world around twilight, the greys and purples blending in and making the bare, pre-spring trees duller. Yahiko hadn't been feeling all that great, so he went to bed around three, complaining of a stomach ache. Kenshin was nowhere to be found. With Sano and Megumi gone and Tae working, I felt completely alone. I fixed Kenshin dinner, but it was cold now. And so, in this drizzly dusk, I sat on the engawa brooding.

It had been a year since Kenshin had walked into my life. An entire year. I could barely believe it. It seemed like just yesterday I found out he was Battousai, but now the trees were starting to bud and the winter's chill was starting to retreat from the earth once again. I should be happy, but I couldn't bring myself to be. It was all too sad.

Kenshin hadn't shown any feelings for me since Enishi came into the picture. As soon as Enishi left, things went back to normal. But no matter how much I wanted them to, there was no going back for me. Kenshin tried to distance himself more and more. I was starting to think he too was going to leave on his own journey and leave me behind. He said he was going to stay… but who knew how long that would be. A year was the longest he'd stayed anywhere since the Bakumatsu. Perhaps he was getting bored…

"Tadaima," a hushed, low voice came from behind me. I turned to see Kenshin. He was standing before me in his winter clothes with a half-smile on his lips. His eyes were unfathomable.

"Okaeri nasai," I replied. Kenshin turned towards the rainy yard.

"Is something wrong, Kaoru-dono?" he asked. He didn't look at me, but I could hear the honest concern in his voice. His purple eyes simply looked at the puddles in the dirt with is arms crossed inside the sleeves of his gi.

I didn't answer. As much as I wanted to scream my feelings at him, there was no way that I could. I sat there quietly, looking down at my callused hands and hoping that he would just remain oblivious as ever.

"Maa maa, Kaoru-dono. You shouldn't hide your feelings, that you shouldn't," he said, his voice remaining low and soft. I heard his weight shift. The next thing I knew, I looked up to see Kenshin sitting next to me with his legs crossed and the sakabatou leaning against a post. He still wasn't facing me, but his eyes passed an unspoken message to me. _Tell me._

I tried to hide my face behind my black hair. I found myself talking despite all that I wanted to keep quiet. "What you said… about us going our separate ways… It's bothering me," I admitted. I quickly let my eyes flit over to Kenshin's face, but he seemed to soften dramatically.

He exhaled softly. "You worry too much, Kaoru-dono," he said. '_Was he really going to stay forever?'_ my mind wondered. "Yahiko will be fine, that he will."

My heart sank. Yahiko? I wasn't even worried in the slightest about that brat. He always bounced back from stuff like this. _'I'm worried about you!'_ I wanted to scream at him, but instead I said, "I know."

We both turned our head from each other to face the coming night. We sat in silence listening to the light rain hit the stones and roof tiles and the birds that weren't going to let the rain bother them. Several minutes passed. I could catch nothing but blissful ignorance from Kenshin while I myself radiated with discontent. Slowly, the silence between us became more annoying than shouting.

"Kenshin," I whispered. "Are… are you going to stay?" I hoped he didn't hear me. My face got hot and my ears burned with embarrassment. I couldn't look him in the eye.

"Ah," he replied.

"For how long?" I asked, louder than before.

He was silent for a moment. "I… I don't know," he replied. "I guess as long as you let this one, Kaoru-dono." The last part of his sentence was accentuated by a short and quiet laugh. I didn't even have to look at his face to know that his silly, closed-eyed smile was slapped across his features.

"I'll let you stay forever, but you said you didn't know when you would leave," I replied crisply despite my embarrassment at admitting all of this.

I could feel him tense at the sudden hostile environment I was creating around me. "Kaoru-dono…" he whispered. I could hear the plea in his voice: _Don't do this to me._

"You've been restless for weeks. If you think it's time for you to leave, leave. I'm not going to stop you," I snapped as I stood up hastily and began briskly walking down the hall.

A hand caught my wrist and turned me around. I was facing Kenshin again, but now the plea in his voice had reached his visage too. His eyes were a very dark purple-grey and his lips were turned down and parted ever so slightly. "This one can't recall parting coming up in any past conversations, that I cannot. Where is this coming from?" he asked, hurt filling his voice.

Guilt calmed my anger. I looked down at his feet and pouted. I didn't like making Kenshin sad. Besides, he had been through quite enough in his life already. What was this all of the sudden anyway? It wasn't like I was actually mad _at_ him. I sighed.

"You just seem… anxious," I replied. It was true. For weeks he had been distant and cold to everyone. He also seemed unusually pensive and was absent for most of the time.

His eyebrows raised in question. "I have?" he asked. His face softened into a sad smile. "This one didn't realize—"

"It doesn't matter," I replied as I slid my wrist from his grasp. "Just for once would you say how you really feel?" I was quickly resorting to anger again. He shrank away from me. "All you ever do is grin and bear whatever life throws at you, but sometimes I wish you would just get mad or be happy or actually care!" I was red-faced and fuming, but I had somehow managed to keep my feelings hidden from him. The rain had picked up during my rant and a few seconds after I had finished, lightning streaked across the night sky and the thunder soon followed.

"Kaoru-dono…" he whispered. He looked like a dog that had just been beaten by its master. The look of 'what did I do?' was reaching even his usually unreadable eyes. Though I knew I would probably never see him cry, he had the stinging look like he would if he were a weaker person. But, despite the sad picture before me, I wasn't done.

"Whether it's with Yahiko or with me, all you ever do is give us a fake smile and tell us not to worry! How could we not worry about you? You're practically family yet you never tell us how you feel about us. How do you actually feel about me?" I asked. The end of the sentence began to quiet drastically. I looked down and away from his gaze. "Am I just some annoying landlady? I know I'm not beautiful and I know that I would never make a good house wife or anything like that… but I—I want to stay by your side… "

Thunder clapped once again above our heads. Kenshin had frozen. I couldn't bring myself to look at anything but the bamboo floor of the engawa and my tabi-clad feet that stood upon it. I could hear my heartbeat pounding in my ears. There was no turning back now…

"Kaoru-dono… this one—" he began softly.

"No, it's fine. Forget I said anything," I replied as I turned to leave him. I started to run. I was so preoccupied in escaping that I didn't notice the grip that tightened around my arm. I was spun around to face Kenshin. His face for once wasn't a mask of happiness. He was actually… serious. And without any prior warning or preparation, and without any time to register what was happening in my mind, he pulled me close to him. At first, I thought he was going to pull me into a hug like the last time he cared enough to actually touch me. But, instead of his arms going around me, they cupped my face. And with only a brief glimpse at beautiful amethyst eyes, his lips pressed against mine.

It lasted only a second, but somehow so many feelings passed between us. He pulled away with a face as bright as his hair, but he still had that critical look on his face. As the seconds passed, his face softened and returned to its normal pallor. My heart was beating a million times a minute. He brushed my cheek with the back of his hand. "Kaoru-dono… this one has been waiting for those words for a long time…" he said as he smiled.

I smiled back with all my heart. He nodded to me and walked back down the engawa. He disappeared into the house without a sound. I slowly lifted my hand to my lips, just to make sure it was real. The blush had never left my cheeks. _He cared…_ I spun around and made my way back toward the kitchen, a big smile plastered across my face and in a much better mood than before…

*A/N - I hope you liked this one! Sorry if it was really corny… There will be many more to come, I hope. Thanks for reading! Now, you should review! It makes chapters come out faster…*


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